Blockchain-enabled anonymous mutual authentication and location privacy-preserving scheme for 5G networks

Fifth-generation (5G) networks are about to become the backbone of communications through their integration with many services such as software-defined network (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), cloud computing, and multiple input multiple outputs (MIMO). However, this integration brings major security and privacy challenges to 5G networks. This paper proposes an authentication protocol based on pseudonyms and blockchain to achieve security and privacy for 5G networks. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme is secure and preserves privacy against different types of attacks. Furthermore, performance evaluation demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed scheme compared to existing schemes.